Magic Found: First year
by JujuTheKid
Summary: Meredith Riverton enters Hogwarts for the first time. It will be a year that will change her life forever.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"Meredith..."

A young girl with medium brown hair groaned into her pillow.

"Meredith! Wake up!"

Closing her eyes tightly, she rolled away from the hands that were gently shaking her.

"For Pete's sake, Meredith! Wake up already. We're at your grandfather's house and you have to get out of the taxi."

Meredith, as this is the name of the girl in question, sat up properly on the car seat, clutching her pillow to her chest as she looked outside the car window with bleary eyes. She saw a normal suburban house with cream, almost white, walls and a reddish brown roof. It looked exactly like all the houses on the street. The only difference with this house, noted Meredith, was that it had a man in front of it, leaning against the fence in a casual way that seemed to say that it was normal for him to be outside at three o'clock in the morning.

Meredith's mother, Judy, clutched her daughter's hand painfully tight as she pulled her out of the taxi. She then stuck her head back into the car and said, "Don't drive off just yet. I'll just get the bags out and then you can take me back to the station."

Judy turned her frosty gaze to the man leaning against the picket fence. Now that Meredith was closer and much more awake, she could tell that the gentleman was rather old. If she were to guess his age, she would say he was around the age of fifty. _This must be my grandfather_, she thought.

"Are you just going to stand there, Christopher, or do you plan on helping me with Meredith's bags?"

"All you had to do was ask." His voice was rough, as if he spent many hours of his day pulling on a pipe or a cigar. His hair was a grey so light that it appeared to be almost white. He had little hair on the top his head but the sides were almost comically fluffy. He kept his beard short, just an inch of growth. Christopher Riverton wasn't a tall man. He had a bulging stomach that suggested he had indulged in many pints of beer in his day. Despite his friendly Santa Claus appearance, Meredith found herself rather skeptical of the man. He had a strict air about him, as if he was used to people doing what he told them to. Which was a right assumption. Christopher never repeated himself and he never expected anything but the best of the people he put his faith into.

"Aren't you staying, mum?" Meredith folded her arms in discomfort and scowled at her mother's back as she got the luggage out of the boot of the taxi.

"Staying? No Meredith, I certainly am not. I can't be surrounded by witchcraft. It's not good for my immortal soul."

Mr. Riverton's laugh erupted in a harsh bark, "You can't be serious, Judith? Surely my son didn't marry such a stupid muggle?"

Meredith had never quite seen her mother this angry. She watched as her mother's face went a brilliant red that clashed with her usually beautiful blonde hair. Meredith picked up her things that her mother had carelessly tossed on the floor. As she got her last bag, Judy Knowles (she had returned to using her maiden name) slammed the boot of the car so hard that the taxi driver yelled out an irritated reprimand.

Finally, as if realizing this was the last time she would see her daughter, she went on her knees in front of Meredith, who was barely holding back her tears. "Meredith," her mother said, "I wouldn't leave you if I didn't think it was the right thing to do. I don't have the abilities to take care of a child like you. If your father was still alive I would never have thought of leaving you with this horrid man." She cast an angry look at the man who was once again leaning on the fence. "I never knew you were a witch until we received your letter from that school. I had hoped that your father's genes had skipped you, but clearly the magic runs too strongly in your blood-"

"As it should!" bellowed Christopher Riverton proudly.

Meredith wiped the tears off her cheeks and with a small sniff said, "I didn't ask for this, mum. This isn't my fault."

Having said all she could, Judy kissed her daughter's forehead and gave her one last hug before getting back into the taxi and driving off.

Meredith entered her new home with the thought of how it was her fault that her mother had left her behind. The only reassurance she had was her grandfather's gentle hand on her shoulder as he led her into the house, carrying all of her belongings in the air behind them.

Meredith, crying as heavily as an abandoned child does, didn't even notice the magic that would soon be the biggest part of her life.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The house was in an uproar of sound on the second day of Meredith's arrival. She had settled into her new room rather well considering her sad thoughts. She stood in front of her full length mirror, holding up the pale pink dress against her skinny body. She had a boyish figure with scrapes on her knees as a tribute. She never wore dresses at home. Her mother would never have thought of planning a party as big as this for Meredith's birthday.

Meredith grinned at her reflection. Her dark blue eyes, almost a dark grey, shone with excitement that had been avoiding her since she had received the letter. Meredith put the dress down on her bed and ran out her room, down the hall way, and into her grandfather's study.

"Sir," she said to the man busy leaning over a box on his impressive oak desk.

He jumped up and slammed the lid on the box quickly. "My Lord, child! Don't you knock?"

She apologized, though it was quite obvious she wasn't all that sorry. She grinned again at the sight of the box. Surely that was her present? Her mind ran astray as she wondered what it was. Was it her wand? Was it some magical tool that could make her disappear? She was just about to ask about it when she realized her grandfather was looking at her expectantly.

"I was wondering when we'd being going to go to the store? I'm ready to go as soon as you want." She looked at her shoes. "Sir," she added quickly as an afterthought. He'd told her on the day of her arrival that she was to refer to him as that.

"Well if you're so eager to be off then we might as well go now. Get your coat." Meredith ran out of the room as quickly as she could as Mr. Riverton took a pouch from atop the giant fire place.

Meredith galloped back into the room with great, gasping breaths. Her grandfather poured some of the dark green powder into her open palm. She took a sniff and wrinkled her nose. It smelled like gun powder.

"What is it?"

"This is floo powder." Mr. Riverton poured some of the powder into his own palm. "You use it for the floo network. It's the fastest way to travel after apparition. None of that" - Meredith had opened her mouth to ask yet another question-" you're too young to apparate. Now listen closely, Meri-Dear, you have to get this right."

Since moving in, she had been nicknamed Meri-Dear by her grandfather and the kind house keeper, Miss Tidley. Miss Tidley was in her twenties and helped her grandfather manage the very messy Riverton household, and now with Meredith living there too, poor Miss Tidley would never get a rest.

Meredith narrowed her eyes in concentration as she listened to her grandfather.

"Go stand in the fire place, yes that's it, step over the grate." Meredith did as she was told. "Now you have to throw the powder on the ground and very loudly and very clearly say: Diagon Alley!"

Meredith looked doubtfully at her grandfather. "And then what happens?" She asked.

"Well then there will be a green flame and-"

"A flame! Won't I burn?"

"Obviously not. Would I let you set yourself on fire?" He didn't wait for an answer but instead made shooing motions with his hand.

Meredith bit her lip nervously. _Well, the worst that could happen is that I throw the powder and nothing happens except my tennis shoes get dirty. _Taking a deep breath, she lifted her hand high and then threw the powder down.

"Diagon Alley!" Suddenly she feels like she is being pulled up by what feels like a vacuum. The spinning made Meredith feel like she was going to lose her breakfast of jam on toast when suddenly her feet hit the floor. Hard.

She tumbled out of a completely different fire place and into an alley. Unfortunately, she wasn't the only one there. The sound of laughter got her quickly to her feet. She glared at the two boys laughing loudly. They were laughing at her.

"What are you two fools laughing at?" She snapped.

Her anger just made them laugh more. Finally, the blonde boy wiped away the tears and smiled at her in a friendly way. "You have ash all over your face," he said.

The flame in the fire place came to life and out of it, stepping on sure feet, came Meredith's grandfather. After dusting himself off thoroughly, he looked around him. His eyes finally fell on a dirty and irritated Meredith, who had turned her reprimanding eyes on her grandfather.

"Did I tell you to close your eyes and keep your elbows tucked in?" He chuckled at her angry frown. "Guess not, eh? Well, come along Meri-Dear, you can't attend Hogwarts in naught but your nickers." He walked calmly out of the side alley, leaving behind a blushing Meredith.

"Meri-Dear? What a name!" Laughed the boy who hadn't spoken before. He looked a bit like a bulldog with his fat cheeks, thought Meredith. Before she could retaliate though, they ran out of the alley. The blonde boy turned around and grinned at her one more time.

Diagon Alley was the most interesting place that Meredith thought she had ever seen. Every store called to her in new and wonderful ways. Her grandfather held her back with his hand on her shoulder. She skipped joyfully next to him as he led her to a shop that had robes of all colours. Some colours Meredith was sure had never existed until they magically appeared in these walls. Her grandfather pushed open the doors and a ding sounded. Meredith all but ran into _Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions._

Madam Malkins greeted Meredith with a rushed hello and immediately started measuring her. Not that she did anything with the tape. It wound itself around Meredith until it had gotten itself into a perfect knot around her waist.

"Sorry dear," huffed Madam Malkins, she waved her wand once and the tape vanished, leaving Meredith open mouthed and in awe.

Madam Malkins grabbed some black robes and passed them to Meredith to try on. She then turned to Mr. Riverton, who had been looking at some glittering robes that seemed almost alive.

"You left it a bit late, Christopher. Many shoppers out there today."

"Mmm," he mumbled back in agreement. After a few more moments of friendly discussion, Meredith and her grandfather left the store with four sets of new robes.

Meredith pulled her grandfather to the side as they passed _Ollivanders Wand Shop. _"We need to get my wand, don't we?" She asked excitedly.

"No. We don't. Don't pull me aside like that again," he said gruffly. He then coughed and changed the subject, "let's go to the pet store."

Meredith smiled sweetly at her grandfather. But when he looked away her smile faded and she cast a longing look back at the wand store.

_Magic Menagerie _had the basic sort of pets that Meredith had assumed she would see in a pet store. But then there were creatures that seemed to defy her idea of logic. What fascinated her most were the pink and purple fluff balls that squeaked and squealed.

"Meri-Dear," called her grandfather from one of the other isles in the store. Meredith found him kneeling in front of a cage that had one particularly grumpy looking kitten in it.

"That ones part kneazle, that one is," said the salesman. His voice seemed to irritate the cat in the cage. The kitten's fur was short, dark and striped. He seemed to have a light black mask over his eyes and then one dark stripe down his back. His belly, chest and neck were a very light silver.

"What breed of cat is he?" asked Mr. Riverton.

"Well, besides the kneazle in him, we ain't too sure. We assumed he is a charcoal bengal cat. He's a bit of a brute," replied the salesman fondly.

"Do you want him?" asked Meredith's grandfather. She could hardly believe her ears. Words failed her as she nodded her head and grinned until her cheeks hurts.

Meredith rushed forward as the cage was opened. The cat inside sniffed her fingers carefully before shoving his face into her palm, purring wildly. Meredith had never had a pet before.

Meredith didn't notice much else besides the kitten in her arms as she and her grandfather finished their shopping, and she only let go of the cat when she went back into the fire place. Her grandfather held the cat firmly in just one hand as he spun around in the green flame.

As soon as they got into the study, Meredith gently took the cat and ran to her room.

She had a party to get ready for.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The kitten bounced from the bed to the floor in a motion that was far from graceful. Meredith giggled as he came and curled himself around her ankles. She hadn't been able to come up with a name for him just yet so instead she just called him Cat.

She pulled her pink dress over her head and flattened out the skirt until it looked presentable. Miss Tidley had just told her that the guests would soon be arriving.

Meredith had never met any of the family on her father's side. He had died when she was four years old and since then her mother had denied her father's family any sort of contact with Meredith. But now she was finally going to meet them, and every single one of them was a witch or wizard. They were like her.

Closing her door securely, she made sure that the yowling kitten would have no way of escape. _He's not going to be happy with me when i get back. Maybe I'll slip him something from the table, _she thought.

Downstairs, in the hallway, Miss Tidley was arranging a vase of lilies. Meredith went down the stairs and into the sitting room, where the party was to be held. There was a pale blue banner hanging from the ceiling of the room. In purple the words _Happy Birthday Meri-Dear _wiggled like eager puppies. The rest of the room had all sorts of party decorations. To the hats that pulled funny faces and to the whistles that hooted like owls. And speaking of owls, Meredith noticed a great Horned Owl perched on a tall lamp. Meredith had just decided that it was stuffed when it turned its face towards her. He gave a somber hoot and then flew over her head and out the window.

"So you've met Gristle," said an unknown voice. "He was your father's owl."

Meredith controlled her surprise as she looked at the new comer in interest. He was tall with dark brown hair and blue eyes that were very similar to her own. She actually found that she looked very much like this man. She smiled shyly and looked at her feet. Meredith felt very uncomfortable when meeting new people.

"So you must be Meredith, the birthday girl. You probably don't remember me." Meredith shook her head, feeling more embarrassed that she couldn't place his face in her memory. He grinned back at her, "Well we will just have to reintroduce ourselves. I'm Charles. I'm your father's younger brother." He stuck out his hand for a handshake and Meredith happily obliged. Meredith was bursting with questions but she knew how much her grandfather got annoyed if she asked too many of them at a time. So instead she waited for her uncle to talk. Meredith's thoughts were happy ones when her grandfather walked in. He caught sight of Charles and greeted him with a happy slap on the back and a warm smile. The three of them sat down on the floral patterned couches and Meredith listened as Charles shared stories of his job at the Ministry of Magic. The Ministry, Meredith came to understand, was the government of the magic world. She had just begun thinking of what sort of work would happen in the Ministry when she heard the front door fly open and five very loud people walked in.

"Charles!" squealed two little girls as they ran towards him. He picked them both up and threw each of them over his shoulder. Meredith looked on with wide eyes as he span them around and they laughed shrilly.

Mr. Riverton got off of his chair and hugged the woman with the same brown hair as Meredith. They had the same noses too, noted Meredith. Straight and sharp. She had her hair up in a bun and strands of it were flying everywhere. She looked very over worked. Meredith sat quietly while she watched everyone greet each other. Charles had finally put the girls down and was now having a pretend punching match with a young boy. His hair was very dark, like the two girls, and his eyes were brown like his mother's. The children's father greeted Meredith's grandfather with a firm handshake and did the same to Charles. Meredith moved backwards into the couch, hoping to both disappear and be noticed. Her movement caused the whole loud bunch to turn to her.

She decided that she would have rather disappeared. Each of their faces held different emotions. The two little girls- twins, thought Meredith- kept shooting their parents confused looks. The young boy was looking at Meredith in mild curiosity but then looked away at the smiling hats, dismissing Meredith from his thoughts. The dark haired man was looking at her expectantly as he whispered something to Charles and Mr. Riverton, making them chuckle softly. The face that kept Meredith's interest though was the woman's. Her mouth was open in a slight "oh" shape and her eyes looked suspiciously sad.

"She looks absolutely nothing like him," the woman suddenly said. Every adult in the room nodded in agreement. The children, including Meredith, stared blankly at each other. Meredith looked at her feet again, as if they could give her some form of comfort in the awkward silence that ensued.

Knees appeared in Meredith's view and she looked up to face of the woman. She was crying. She pulled Meredith into a fierce hug that left her gasping for breath. When the woman finally pulled back she was laughing lightly in what seemed to be embarrassment. Meredith gave a pleading look around the room. She wasn't sure how to deal with the emotional woman.

Charles, seeing his nieces discomfort, stepped forward and ruffled Meredith's hair.

"Oh dear," mumbled the woman, "you must be so confused. I'm sorry. I'm your father's sister and you just over whelmed me. I haven't seen you in years." Her eyes took on a hard glint as she said, "Your mother should never have stopped us from seeing you."

"Enough, Julia. What's happened has happened. She's here now." Meredith looked at her grandfather as she noticed tears in his eyes too.

Meredith looked at every face and felt a deep warmth in her chest. "I think maybe it's time for cake," she said lightly. The atmosphere in the room calmed down as everyone let out a laugh. The two girls did a loud shout of "cake!" and then skipped around the room.

As everyone sat around the room, sharing food and stories, Meredith found out that the two young girls were called Jane and June, though don't ask Meredith which one was which. All their energy made them seem like bouncing balls of black curls. They were two years younger than Meredith and wouldn't be attending Hogwarts this year. Where as Timothy, the young dark haired boy, would be going into his second year. Meredith felt a sudden calm come over her as she realized she would know at least one person at the school.

Two hours later, Charles uncapped a gold drink and poured a small glass for all the adults.

"Aw mum can I have some?" Timothy watched his uncles glass with keen eyes. Charles threw back his head and laughed.

"One sip of this and your stomach will be as liquid as the water in a pond."

Meredith leaned over towards Timothy, who was now sulking with his arms folded, and asked, "What is that stuff? Some sort of alcohol?"

He gave her a look. "It's Fire Whiskey. Don't you know what that is?"

"Obviously not. They don't have Fire Whiskey in the normal world."

"You mean the muggle world." Tom shook his head and muttered under his breath something that sounded suspiciously like "never heard of Fire Whiskey. Unbelievable."

"So what's a muggle?" Meredith looked at him with open curiosity and for a second she thought he might insult her again for her ignorance. But instead he sighed and finally turned towards her.

"A muggle is what we call those who don't have magic." He then got up and looked at her expectantly. A look that was shockingly like his father's. "Well," he said, " what's fun to do in this house?"

Meredith grinned and followed him out of the living room. Jane and June came running after them.

"I have a kitten," said Meredith happily, "I only got him today. Maybe you can help me decide on a name for him."

Timothy shrugged and followed Meredith up to her room.

"Is he a big kitten?" asked either June or Jane. Meredith shook her head in reply.

She opened her door and looked at her now messy room. The cat had found the papers and he scattered them all over the room. When she found him, he was batting around her feathered quill. Timothy laughed and the girls made sounds of wonder. Meredith groaned. She would have to clean all of this up. She picked up the naughty kitten and put him on the bed. He meowed at her once in a way that clearly stated that he did not enjoy the man handling.

The girls and Meredith collected all of the things off of the floor while Timothy dangled the feathered quill in front of the kittens faced. Meredith snatched it out of his hand and frowned at him. "Don't encourage him."

"Why not call him Gumball?" asked one of the twins.

Meredith scrunched up her nose. She didn't want her cat to have such a girly name.

"No!" said the other twin, "what about Took?"

"That's better," said Meredith.

"Call him Zorro. Or Gambit," suggested Timothy.

Meredith thought about it. Gambit suited the cat quite well. "Okay," she said as she picked up the kitten, "I'll call you Gambit."

They spent another few minutes in the room playing with the newly named Gambit before they were called down to open Meredith's presents.

She received a set of quills that changed the color of the ink to the color of the feathers. Each quill had a different color feather. This she received from her Aunt Julia and her husband, Jim. From Timothy, Jane and June she received a little silver bracelet with a moon hanging off of it. It could later have some new charms added to it. From Charles she got a large box of chocolate frogs (Meredith was shocked to realize that the box moved as if the frogs were alive). Lastly, her grandfather gave her a little wooden jewelry box that sang a beautiful lullaby every time she opened it. It took Meredith a lot of will power to pull her eyes away from the carved birds that moved on the side of the box.

"Thank you all so much. These are amazing." They all beamed at her and then her grandfather stood up.

"There's one more." Meredith looked at him excitedly as he pulled a small black rectangular box from his coat pocket.

"This is your wand," he said in his gruff voice. Meredith could hardly sit still as she gazed at the box hungrily.

"We all, as a family, decided that we'd do things a bit differently than usually," he continued.

Charles patted Meredith on the shoulder and explained. "When your father died, we were all very shocked and sad. It's awful to lose someone so suddenly. We worried about your well being, especially since none of us could see you." Aunt Julia grunted moodily.

"We wanted you to have a part of your father with you always," she said after she calmed down her temper. "We got his wand and we took it to Ollivanders. He was able to take the dragon heart string from your fathers wand and put it into another wand. Your wand."

Meredith blinked a few times. She wasn't sure what this meant.

Mr. Riverton cleared his throat, "It's a 10 inches Silver Lime wood, with a dragon heart string core, which makes it slightly yielding. Use it well."

He held out the open box for Meredith and she gently lifted the wand off of the black velvet material. Immediately bubbles of all shapes came out of the tip of her wand. She giggled happily as the different shapes popped and rained down on top of every one's heads. The wand was long and elegantly twisted. It's color was light with slightly darker highlights running through it. Meredith held the wand up to her face and inspected it closely.

"This is the best gift I've ever received," she finally whispered, and her family all smiled happily at her.

Everyone felt rather happy with themselves and settled down to spend a few more moments together before everyone went home.

When Meredith stood by the door with her grandfather, she wished that everyone could have stayed longer.

She curled up in her bed with Gambit sleeping against her belly and smiled as she thought of how tomorrow she would be going to her cousins house. She couldn't wait.

**Author's Note**

**So this is my first fanfiction. Any reviews with HELPFUL criticism would be appreciated. **

**I noticed that sometimes I tend to get bored and quickly change the topic in the chapter (chapter 2 for example) but I'm going to try and fix that. With hard work or something. **

**Whatever.**

**Anyway, review! Tell me what you think!**


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